Do You Wanna Find Hell With Me?
by Radioactive-Nerd-Love-Scene
Summary: She spends her life wandering its haunted halls searching for herself. Friend to the house elves, protector of the young students who can't defend themselves, and unknown to the population that inhabits her home. Until the fateful night she lets her guard down. Until the night she chooses to let evil in. Tom Riddle Jr./OFC
1. Prologue: The Wanderer

**I've tried to write HP fics before, but it has never really worked out. Hopefully, this new project will **_**exceed expectations**_**.** **I had this idea on a whim and just sort of had to…roll with it.**

**That being said, and without further ado, may I introduce Esther Byrne.**

**Prologue: **_**The Wanderer**_

One might romanticize the thought of wandering through a deserted castle. You think you could spend hours strolling in and out of corridors, winding your way up and down stairs, slowly making your way to every nook and cranny. You might decide to work your way in to find it's warm core. You might think it best to make your way toward its depths in hopes of finding its riches and treasures. You also could be the type to wish to touch the sky; you would climb every last possible stair to reach the tallest tower and run your fingers through the wispy clouds.

I like to spend my time exploring each room. I like to absorb every memory, familiarize myself with every object, and create a relationship with the building that I like to call my home. Of course, it hasn't always been that way. I used to have my very own home in a small Irish village outside of Dublin, which I lived in with a loving single father. We lead a simple life together—I would attend the local school by day while he worked in a factory in the city. No, we weren't wealthy, but we didn't really need to be. I wasn't raised with a greed for money, or a lust for power. If anything, I was given a sense of determination that would make me who I am today.

Obviously, my comfortable life with my loving father in a small town outside of Dublin didn't last as long as it should have. Turns out we were in hiding from a great power that I wouldn't understand until I was much older. At that point in time, when I was a ripe nine years old, I hadn't yet come to comprehend why weird things would happen when I got angry, ecstatic, or depressed. I didn't quite understand the gravity of turning the annoying, snotty Jane Colum's hair a nasty shade of green after she decided to cut my own auburn hair off one day.

Unfortunately, that misstep that I had no control over ruined my young life. After a strange series of events, I went from a poor-but-happy small town girl to a lost and confused orphan residing in a cold and unfamiliar castle. I didn't know how I got there. I didn't know what had happened to my father. I'd lost everything but myself, and I only barely managed to hold on to that last bit.

In short, I got lucky. This is the story of the who, what, when, where and why of my childhood and beyond. The story of how I meet a mysterious, but devilishly handsome, young man and witlessly offer my friendship, and opportunity I hadn't had in years.

This is the story of how I met Tom Riddle Jr., and how he changed my life—for better or worse is left for you to deicide.


	2. Chapter 1: His Majesty

**Chapter 1: **_**Can You Keep Them in The Dark?**_

It had been a rather average day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The students attended their classes, trudging from room to room with the lack of purpose that one expects from children who are expecting Christmas and snow soon, as it was mid-December. Snow was falling to the ground in powdery layers that would soon become icy and hard—perfect for a snowball fight of epic proportions. As the last period of classes came around, a new life found itself in the student body as they all itched to escape the confines of a classroom and make their way to warm common rooms or the frigid outdoors.

As usual, they were unaware of their silent peer. She typically hung around the dungeons and other darker parts of the school during daylight hours. She would find a nice niche to camp out in and watch the students go about their way. She was always there, but never ever noticed.

While the regular students hurried their way to the Great Hall to join their houses and feast on delicious delicacies that couldn't quite be replicated at home, sixteen year old Esther Byrne made her way to the kitchens. The house elves had always been kind to her. None of them actually knew that she wasn't a student. She never had to make excuses for being there because it wasn't their business to be nosy; it was their business to keep everyone in the castle happy. Since that was the case, Esther was always well-fed.

Typically after eating, Esther would head to her preferred common room, which changed on a daily basis, and wait for the students to fall asleep. She would then find a spot next to a warm fire and read. She had never been one for exorbitant amounts of sleep, and subsequently she would usually find time for the necessary evil during the day.

On this fateful night, though, Esther wasn't as careful as usual. In fact, she was incredibly excited. She has just nabbed a particularly interesting book from the library and couldn't wait to dig in. Esther forgot to be mindful of prefect rounds, which she usually kept track of in excruciating detail. The teenager forgot that one of the more dedicated prefects in the Slytherin house was on duty that night, and he typically stayed out on his rounds longer than most. As she whispered the password to the half-asleep portrait that hung in front of the entrance to the home beneath the lake, Esther forgot everything that kept her safe and hidden at night.

She had already settled down next to the warm green flames and was deep within the magical world of her book by the time Tom Riddle returned to his common room. He had stayed out particularly late that night and the bags beneath his eyes gave away his recent preference to read books on dark magic instead of sleep. His exhaustion had caused him to have an aura of disgust and annoyance with his peers all day. The boys he shared a room with had walked on egg shells in order to avoid his wrath.

Needless to say, when he walked into that room Tom wasn't really in the position to deal with a mystery girl by the fireplace, or even notice her in the first place.

He stumbled into the common room and rubbed his forefinger and thumb up and down his nose, hoping to relieve the pressure caused by a migraine that has set in a few hours earlier. Eyes shut and only familiarity with the layout to guide him, Tom didn't notice the girl his age by the fireplace. He didn't notice her tense once she laid eyes on him, and he didn't notice her move to leave through the portal from which he came. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until she tripped on the carpet corner that had become upturned when he made his less-than-graceful entrance.

Once he did notice her, it took all of his restraint not to curse her right then and there. He swiveled in his leather shoes to point his wand at the diminutive figure; his glare bore down on her like the world on great Atlas' shoulders. She stared up at him with a fierce pair of blue eyes, and perhaps she wasn't as weak as he'd like to think. She rose to her feet, and brushed off her too-big men's slacks with one hand and held a tattered book in the other close to her chest as if to ward off his presence.

"Who the hell are you?" Riddle asked with a menacing tone that threatened to shake Esther right out of her stolen boots.

"No one," she answered with a confidence she didn't know she possessed.

"Are you a student? You aren't in Slytherin, so how did you get in here?" his wand was still pointed directly between his eyes and his cold stare told her that it was in her best interest to answer truthfully.

"You're right, I'm not in Slytherin. As for how I got in, your friends aren't masters of subtlety." She couldn't risk revealing her secret.

"If you aren't Slytherin, what house are you?" Riddle was curious; he has never seen the girl before. Despite the triviality of socializing, he was under the impression that he knew every student.

"Why should I tell you?" Esther's voice didn't reveal how nervous she was starting to get. She has lasted eight years so far… surely she could outsmart her first human contact in that time.

Surely.

"Because I'm a prefect, and it's against the rules to sneak into common rooms that don't belong to you."

"Technically, the common rooms don't belong to anyone."

"Don't get snarky with me, girl. I don't want this _lovely_ interaction to get out of hand."

Was he threatening her? Esther maintained her silence. Instead of continuing that conversational path, she decided to get herself out of the situation in a logical way. She considered her wandless magic and decided that it was the best bet. Unfortunately, due to her limited practice (a lot of her knowledge comes from "misplaced" library books), she wasn't sure if her attempt would be successful.

But she had to try.

Suddenly, Riddle had the strangest feeling fall over him, as if his entire body was encased in molasses. When he tried to move, none of his limbs wouldn't cooperate. When he tried to speak, his mouth refused to open. He was frozen in place.

After an internally frantic survey of his body, Tom's eyes flicked to the girl who mysteriously appeared in his common room. He was surprised to find that she had disappeared. Though he was sure that she had done this strange magic, he hadn't seen a wand. Not many students were proficient in wandless magic. It was a feat that he himself could accomplish, but not to his satisfaction. He considered it his weakness. The fact that this nameless, plain, virtually unremarkable _girl_ could do something that he couldn't… it made his blood boil. He could feel him self grow angry; he felt his true self start to rear its head. Not only was it angry, it was furious.

The first order of business was remedying his predicament before one of his classmates/followers found him. What an embarrassment that would be. It didn't take him long to think of the jinx. He remembered learning that particular spell in his fifth year of schooling... it wasn't particularly complicated, it just took him by surprise.

After unfreezing himself, Tom collapsed in a stiff, green armchair and thought. Originally, he had planned to sleep that night, but he instead stayed up to plan. He had to find that girl. He had to figure out who she was, what house she was in, what classes she was taking. How she could be better than _him_. How _she_ could be better than _him_. The thought made him disgusted.

No, he wouldn't be able to rest until he found her again. And when he did, he would teach her a lesson she would never forget. One never challenges the dark lord, lest they wish the worst tortures upon themselves.

Pride is the worst of the deadliest sins, and it was Tom Riddle's true weakness.


End file.
